Leadership

Although many would agree that leadership starts with leading yourself well, they want to know, “What are the practical steps I can take to improve my self-leadership?” I would suggest the first step involve a self-evaluation and personal inventory. Achieving clarity on the following questions can help build that solid foundation from which to grow self-leadership:

What do I stand for?

What do I value?

What am I good at and what am I not?

Am I following my passion?

Is my personal vision clear?

Am I excited in what I do and whom I do it with?

Am I making decisions that honor everyone?

Bill Hybels (2009) mentions that great leaders embody several key traits. After addressing the “what and how” questions, a deeper dive into personal characteristics will continue that self-leadership inventory. On a continuum, leaders should ask themselves which traits they hold strongly and which ones they want to develop further?

Integrity

Optimism

Decisiveness

Courage

Wisdom

Emotional authenticity

Commitment to collaboration

The self-evaluation goal is to become self-full, which is to attend to oneself in a way that allows one to lead self and others well. At times, leaders can extend themselves so far and for so long that they exhaust themselves and are then not able to give others their best. Therefore, leaders should ask themselves, “Where will I focus my attention and where will I not?” Leaders cannot be all things to all people and should understand their limits. Leaders benefit by scheduling downtime to work on self-leadership and keep themselves energized.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in leadership and business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops. She has a passion to help organizations engage all its employees. You can learn more about Sandra by visiting her website at www.shinecrossings.com.

On occasion we get asked, “What one piece of advice would you give a person who has just accepted his or her first sales position?” That is truly an unfair question. How do you boil down the essence of sales leadership into one slice of a whole pie? However, that question is worth an answer. Our best response would be, “Engage a coach.” Why? Because partnering with a sales coach can build a firm foundation to use as a springboard towards success.

We would expect a coach to help you leverage the following:

Define measurable goals: Select several meaningful one, three, and five-year goals that focus on financial targets and personal growth. Without measurable goals you won’t know the direction you’re headed or whether you’ve arrived at your destination. People without defined goals typically meander and become disappointed in their lack of results.

Focus on a vertical market: Good sales people are not all things to all customers. What area are you most passionate? Join an association in that market and become the “go to” expert. Consider certification or accreditation to bolster your expertise. Make sure to understand the emerging trends and have a plan to take advantage of the opportunities and to navigate through the threats.

Understand your customers: Ask powerful questions of your customers so you clearly understand their needs and what keeps them up at night. Be the solution seeker and problem-solver by offering answers that address their needs. Customers partner with sales people who create and offer value.

Know your competition: Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Strategize how you can navigate the competitive landscape to take advantage of their weaknesses by driving on your strengths.

Build trust among your customers and industry colleagues: People do not do business with others whom they don’t trust unless there are no other options. Make decisions and exhibit behaviors that garnish trust.

Leverage social media: Set up a LinkedIn profile that reflects who you are and what you offer. Share and publish articles that are relevant to your customers. Make sure your public Facebook represents what you want customers to know about you. Be sure to clean up your social media of any “unwanted” posts.

Establish a personal brand: When your name is mentioned in industry circles, what one phrase would you want to come to mind: “gets it done,” “always looks for the win-win,” or “sales leadership expert.” Develop a personal brand based on your best assets.

Grow your leadership: Learn from the best, get a mentor, and practice leadership. One of the most powerful annual leadership conferences we attend is Global Leadership Summit (https://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership). Strong leadership will not only build your sales it will build your life.

Become a servant leader: Give of your time, talents, and treasures without expecting anything in return. When you do, don’t be surprised how people will respond to you. People will want to spend time with you, recommend you, and help you be successful.

And last, but not least, you can always benefit by going back to school to…

Relearn your ABC’s (Always Be Connecting): Selling is about connecting and one person saying “yes” to another. People rarely say “yes” to people whom they don’t like or trust. Spend time with your customers in casual settings getting to know them on both a professional and personal level. Your calendar should be populated with customer lunch dates.

Every seasoned salesperson has one or two special secrets of the trade that may have contributed to their success; however, these fundamental strategies will build a solid sales career over a lifetime. Although every salesperson can try to implement these practices on their own, most would benefit from having a sales coach who can keep them accountable.

About the Authors:

Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and leadership consultant with an extensive background in sales and new business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops on current business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

Darin Dillon is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), 30+ year business development veteran, and active leader in the electronic security and integrated systems industry. As a business leader, he has a passion for developing long-term customer partnerships and providing solutions to Fortune 1000 companies across many vertical markets. He can be reached at ddillon14@hotmail.com or 713.204.7035.

A recent survey (Morin, 2017) revealed that although students felt academically prepared for college, they expressed concern regarding their lack of emotional preparedness to take care of themselves, adapt to new environments, control negative emotions or behaviors, and build positive relationships. What happened? Did the cart get put before the horse? Did well-meaning parents overinvest in the academic advantage before building a solid foundation of soft skills and competencies that would allow the hard skills and knowledge to flourish? Unfortunately, many of these intelligent college students are turning to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of uncomfortable feelings. Heartbreaking! What can be done? My recommended solution is mental boot camp with a coach.

What happens when we don’t exercise our muscles? You would probably answer, “They get flaccid and lose strength!” This concept also applies to our mental muscle. You may ask, “What is mental muscle?” I define mental muscle as the integrated system of intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional intelligence (EI), and social intelligence (SI). It requires regular exercise to remain strong and available to solve problems.

You cannot strengthen a muscle by reading how to strengthen it or by observing someone else strengthening theirs. The only way to grow muscle is to exercise it, which means that likely you will need to put yourself in challenging situations where you will struggle and sometimes fail. No one would deny that everyone could benefit from a trainer when working out in the gym, and the same concept applies when growing your mental muscle. Everyone can benefit from a coach, who will be your partner as you work through a life plan, overcome obstacles, and get up and dust yourself off to try a different approach.

Morin (2017) found that although the majority of college students were struggling with emotional preparation and mental strength, nearly half of them felt that everyone else had life figured out but them. Little did they know that they were not alone! I encourage all young adults to reach out for a coaching partner.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and leadership consultant with an extensive background in business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

I haven’t yet heard a business owner, executive, or manager who hasn’t expressed a need to have stronger leaders in their organization. Everyone wants more and better leaders. Unfortunately, some employees don’t view themselves as leaders and neglect to grow their leadership capacity. What these employees may not realize is that their DNA rubs off on others as their colleagues observe them, have conversations, and work alongside them.

Although I believe everyone is a leader, I admit that the ability to influence may be easier for some. From my experience, these perceived “natural leaders” already possess a high degree of certain personal traits they build upon to grow in their leadership strengths. Yet, even these emerging leaders need the partnership with more experienced leaders to help them grow their leadership brand.

Organizations that emphasize leadership development for all their employees will foster stronger employee engagement. I propose that part of an organization’s intentional mission should be to identify and raise up the next generation of leaders. Some business leaders may ask, “What’s the best way to start investing in our emerging leaders?” Growing leaders can be broken down into a few simple steps:

Make the decision that you will invest your time and resources in growing new leaders. Leadership demands intentionality, which means you will take on this assignment as part of your job description.

Identify potential leaders that have some level of the characteristics you believe will make for great leadership within your organization. Bill Hybels (2009) mentions five key qualities that he looks for in potential leaders: (1) influence, (2) character, (3) people skills, (4) initiative, and (5) intelligence. You may select all five or modify; however, you should be clear on the criteria by which you will base your selection.

Invest in potential leaders through coaching, mentoring, training, and wise counsel. Storytelling is a powerful way to learn, so share your stories of successes and challenges and what you learned. Be aware that just listening to leadership stories does not grow leadership; therefore, it is important to have them put to use what they know.

Create opportunities for potential leaders to practice leadership. You need to trust they will become stronger leaders by figuring out leadership through their own trials. Leaders grow by moving from theoretical to practical experiences through a series of more challenging assignments.

Management typically justifies leadership coaching for an identified few, because the investment payback can be roughly calculated. With relatively high turnover rates at lower levels in the organization, management does not want to invest in these employees only to have the competition realize the benefits. Decisions in leadership investment can be a difficult decision, but I can make the argument that if companies invested more broadly in leadership development, they would keep their best employees and also have the competitors’ employees want to join.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and leadership consultant with an extensive background in business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

Based on my birth date I am a confused Baby Boomer/Gen-Xer, because I sit in both camps depending on what study defines the age range for each generational cohort. By my self-assessment, I primarily identify with the characteristics of the Gen-Xer. However, no one fits all stereotypes, and I see my profile as a bell curve with my tails in the Boomer and Millennial camps. What concerns me most about the current workplace dynamics is the lack of collaboration and appreciation that cohorts have for one another. Has there ever been such an emotionally charged divide?

Studies show that having the authority and left to their own preferences, people promote and invite into their ranks those who have similar values, interests, and styles. What might this mean for all employees? The likely assumption would be more cohort division and clustering of similar thinking and approaches. When these dynamics are interwoven with current communication platforms, one would naturally forecast that there would be fewer cohorts sitting across the table from one another. Does technology allow shared-thinking groups the ability to silo themselves and hang onto preconceived ideas and stereotypes? Would the absence of web-meetings, working remotely, iPhones, call-in conferencing, etc. force the generations to collaborate and appreciate each other more?

No doubt, technology has expanded the width of our network, yet has it come at the expense of the depth in our relationships? Companies bring more colleagues together through technology platforms, yet have they invested the corresponding resources to foster effective collaboration?

How to Build Bridges toward Collaboration

How can generations learn to appreciate and collaborate more with each other to deliver superior solutions? Part of the answer involves understanding the impact of mindset. Will people hang onto their beliefs and look for evidence to support how they feel, or will they choose to engage, brainstorm, and build a superior team?

Where would one start? First, acknowledge that technology will continue to be a force that shapes team collaboration across all cohorts. Second, appreciate that generational cohorts are shaped by their macros experiences that form their worldview. Third, be cognizant that people are individuals and some do not hold the same characteristics of their birthed cohort. Fourth, choose to respect and actively work with each style to extract the best of what it can contribute to the situation.

As the table suggests, cohorts’ preferences differ in what and how to communicate, problem-solve, decide, and lead. Most would agree that good communication is a key competency in influencing outcomes and achieving goals; therefore, colleagues need to answer three questions regarding their communication: (1) how much, (2) how to, and (3) to whom.

Given how technology has expanded access to information and communication platforms, it should come as no surprise how cohorts’ styles and mediums have evolved. Baby Boomers have a more guarded view of information and prefer face-to-face communication; whereas, Millennials are more collaborative and utilize social media to communicate information. Each style has its merits and drawbacks. Millennials readily share information so teams can make decisions. Baby Boomers prefer to make more decisions within their peer group and inform the team. The argument could be made that the Millennials’ preferred communication style lends itself to better decision-making because of its increased diversity and inclusion. However, the drawback is the increased risk that sensitive information would be leaked as more employees are involved in the collaborative process.

How to Collaborate through Consensus with the End Goal in Mind

Generational cohort preferences are rooted in human judgment in how best to work towards a goal. For example, many of my work processes are classic Gen-Xer. My leadership style takes the form of coaching, and when I am asked to lead a meeting, my first inclination is to create a PowerPoint slide deck to lead the discussion.

I propose that cohorts will only increase in collaboration when they choose to de-emphasize a preferred, prescriptive process and focus on developing the best way to meet the objectives. Teams should allow their members some nonjudgmental space and flexibility to carry out their best work. Every member must learn to appreciate and find value in the other work styles as well as remain flexible. The surprise outcome may be the discovery of a hybrid team work style that delivers the right product at the right time.

Generational cohort conflict cannot be solved, because it is rooted in different values and worldviews. Poorly led organizations ignore cohort differences. The better organizations seek ways to manage this conflict, and the best companies leverage these differences to win.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in leadership and business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ specific business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

Many clients want to know how they can become better leaders. My typical response is to answer this question with a question: “Where would you start?” Clients respond with “improve my communication skills,” “have a clear vision,” “give better direction,” and “build stronger relationships.” No doubt all of these answers have elements that can contribute toward improved leadership. Yet, these answers leave people still wondering, “How do I really start the process?”

I propose that a serious effort to grow leadership capacity starts with an honest self-assessment. Until a client understands who he* is and how he shows up in the world, he will be challenged to sustain leadership growth. People should be aware of where they are, where they want to stand, and how large of a gap exists between the two. A deep-dive into self-awareness allows one to determine how he presents himself to others, which reflects a combination of worldview, skills/competencies, knowledge, attitudes, and appearance/behaviors. Clients need to appreciate how each dimension works for and against their ability to influence, so they can choose to change in ways that drives toward increased leadership.

As an example, a sales person struggles with securing new clients and business growth. One of my priorities as a leadership coach is to help him understand his worldview, which reflects how he believes the world works or should work. Where does he land on the continuum of “fate plays a major role in my life” versus “I control my destiny”? If the client tends more toward fate, he may stop pursuing a relationship with a prospective client sooner than a salesperson who believes he controls his destiny. The sales person, who believes he strongly influences his outcome, may not as readily accept defeat and find other creative strategies to bring on the customer. Another worldview perspective to consider is “people must earn my trust” versus “people are inherently trustworthy”? How might a sales person, who embraces either extreme, be perceived by a potential customer? Answers to these and other worldview questions will likely determine how a sales person engages in the sales process and with his customers.

Worldview is only one dimension that influences leadership growth. I encourage clients to take a deep dive self-assessment in the other dimensions. Once a client has established a personal baseline and defined his leadership goals, he can work through the change process. Focusing on purposeful change to improve leadership also helps to build learning agility, which is an important skill to be competitive in today’s global market.

*[”he” or “his” as personal pronouns are also intended to reflect “she” and “her”]

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in leadership and business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

I occasionally hear clients express that they do not think of themselves as leaders. When I ask how they came to that conclusion, their typical answer aligns with the message that they do not manage, supervisor, or oversee a team. Since the idea of leadership and its definition are routinely portrayed by a position or person, is it surprising that people remain confused and tend to assume they are not leaders? With the hope of dispelling any confusion on leadership and who is eligible, I define leadership as influence and propose that everyone is a leader. Leadership is a choice.

Leadership is also a muscle. Like all muscles, leadership needs a good workout to stay strong and fit. The first step in growing leadership is to assess and establish your leadership baseline. On a continuum of 1 to 10, where is your current level of leadership engagement?

I am unsure of the definition of leadership and the characteristics of a good leader

I question whether I am a leader

I believe I am a leader but do not often practice leadership

I have doubts about my leadership abilities but still try to lead

I know I am a leader and am fully aware of my leadership strengths and growth areas

I educate myself on leadership and welcome those few opportunities to practice it

I create or provide opportunities for others to increase their leadership capacity

A leadership rating of 10 signifies a leader who is growing the next generation of leaders through coaching and creating opportunities for them to practice. Great leaders know there is a time to lead and a time to follow, and even great leaders know when they are to follow and not lead. When they follow, you might assume they are leading from behind.

Growing leadership capacity and strengthening leadership ability is a lifelong journey and available to anyone who chooses. The second step in growing leadership is to ask yourself these questions:

What will I lead?

How will I lead?

When will I Iead?

Where will I lead?

Will I choose to lead?

Answers to these questions help a leader formulate a leadership vision and goals to increase their leadership capacity and abilities.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in leadership and business development. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

As a leadership coach, I hear clients express annoyance that they cannot lead an hour-long business meeting without attendees looking at emails, texts, or other information sourced on their iPhones. Some senior leaders even resort to posting a sign on the conference room door that reads “no iPhones, this meeting” or “check your iPhones.” In my opinion, those leaders are putting a Band-Aid on wound instead of addressing its cause. You may be thinking, “We can’t take away our employees’ iPhones.” I agree, however, what I am proposing is that leaders pause and question what they are contributing to the problem.

Spend a few moments and reflect over the past month on the meetings you attended and did not lead. After the meeting concluded, how many times did you say to yourself at least one of the following statements:

“That was a non-value-add meeting.”

“I’m not sure what the point was of that meeting.”

“We hardly accomplished anything.”

“We could have taken half the time to discuss what we did.”

“Wish we could have a meeting where we don’t get off topic.”

“I don’t know why I was invited to that meeting.”

My guess would be that at least half the meetings you attended had some elements of the above ineffectiveness. In these meetings, were you bored, sneaking peaks at Facebook and returning emails and texts? If so, what did these meetings have in common? I would propose they lacked one or more of the following:

A defined or succinct purpose

An upfront definition of what decisions, if any, needed to be made before leaving the meeting

An agenda and topics clearly mapped to scheduled time

When leaders have not clearly defined the purpose and the decisions that need to be made during their meetings, they typically invite more people than required as a means of covering all bases. When a leader does not prepare well, invite the right people, or conduct the meeting effectively, attendees will naturally disengage. It is the leader’s responsibility to prepare and lead a meeting in a way that the right attendees will choose to participate.

How can a leader lead an effective meeting? Consider the following:

Define and clearly articulate the purpose of the meeting (i.e. information, brainstorming, or decision-making).

State at the beginning of the meeting what decisions need to be made by the group before the meeting adjourns.

Issue an agenda with items #1 an #2 at the top as well as the topics that will be discussed, who will lead them, and how much time has been allocated to each activity. When possible, issue the agenda several days in advance, so attendees can prepare and ask any questions.

When leaders develop and clearly communicate their meetings’ purpose and decision requirements, they can more easily determine who needs to attend. Distributing an agenda in advance helps to set expectations and gives attendees time to prepare. Assigned prereading can reduce meeting time as attendees are current on the topic. Meeting time can then be productively used to answer questions, debate, and build consensus.

I acknowledge that some employees’ technology addiction can undermine even the leader’s best meeting management. These cases warrant a conversation outside of the meeting. Strong leaders are comfortable in respectfully addressing meeting behaviors that undermine team performance. Strong leaders also welcome feedback. One of the best closing questions a leader can ask before dismissing the group: “How could this meeting have been more effective?”

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in business development and leadership. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ specific business needs. She has a passion to help organizations fully engage all its employees. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

Gender inequality in wages and promotional opportunities used to be the hot topic in HR meetings and workplace chatter, but this issue has been overshadowed by the office talk about the Millennials (Gen Y) and how to manage their job expectations and performance. With Millennials accounting for ~ 50% of the American workforce today and growing to 75% by 2025, businesses are wrestling with how to assimilate Gen Y with older employees who span several generational cohorts (Maturists, Baby Boomers, and Gen X). Instead of focusing on gender inequities, many office conversations and Facebook posts make fun of the Millennials. Might this be a broad form of cyber bullying? Do these pokes help to bridge the gap or do they solidify what we believe to be true and allow us to vent some frustration?

Leaders should be asking themselves, “How can our company help our employees build stronger and more productive relationships across generational cohorts?” I propose the first step is for all employees to understand the workplace landscape and appreciate what each generation brings to the team. Questions that should be answered are: (1) what are the different generational cohorts at play within the organization, (2) what are these cohort characteristics, strengths, motivators, needs, values, and preferences, (3) what can each generation recognize as value-add from another, and (4) how can work and communication be constructed that honors and values all contributions. A leadership coach can facilitate constructive conversation that starts the process; whereby, each employee becomes educated about the generational dynamics and actively looks for ways to productively engage the other generations.

Personal judgment should be suspended of other cohorts’ attitudes and behaviors, because good/bad or right/wrong are only relative assessments. People are products of their culture, and each generation, including Gen Z entering the workforce today, has been raised within their own unique global experiences and technology platforms. For example, Maturists (born pre-1945), who grew up during the Depression and WW II, lacked many basic necessities and a sense of security. As a result, Maturists drove toward the preference of “jobs for life.”

The dynamics of the generational cohorts have been compared to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where Maturists entered the workforce at the first levels with the expectations that jobs served to meet their physiological and safety needs. On the other hand, Gen Y has been culturized during a time of American abundance and within families where children were given a priority in the family structure. Gen Y’s parents raised them with a strong sense of love/belonging and provided activities and rewards to build esteem. Having had the first four levels of Maslow’s needs met, it should come as no surprise that Millennials entered the workforce looking to achieve the next level—self-actualization. A need for self-actualization would easily translate into the need for a job that provides meaning and a higher purpose rather than just to collect a paycheck.

Debating the fairness or reasonableness of what each generation expects from work drives wedges among cohorts rather than fostering the conversation in how to bring the generations together. Businesses need to openly talk and act constructively in bridging the generations, because each cohort has a unique ability to offer value. Leadership coaches can help businesses facilitate these conversations. A company cannot mandate a bridge be built, but it can encourage and provide a coach, who can help employees design and build the bridge they all want to walk across.

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in business development and leadership. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ specific business needs. She has a passion to help organizations engaged all its employees to their fullest potential. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.

You’ve likely heard the saying, “Big things come in small packages,” which can be translated into practical terms as: “Do not underestimate something’s value based on its packaging.” This concept applies as much to leadership as it does to a gift. Leadership is not necessarily packaged in a big box with a boldly colored bow but likely wrapped in a modest box with a refined ribbon.

Although leadership expresses itself in casting vision, building effective teams, setting goals, solving problems, and inspiring teams to action, I propose most people would describe leadership by the attributes of a leader who casts vision and inspires people to change. While many give leadership recognition to the person who articulates the vision, Hybels (2009) describes 10 key leadership styles that are required for any organization to grow. Which ones can you identify on your team?

Re-engineering: thrives on turning around teams who struggle because they are missing a leadership element

Bridge-building: deals with complexity and brings many groups under a single leadership umbrella

I believe great leadership involves building an organization, where all the leadership styles are represented and recognized for their contribution. No leadership style is more important than another, because failure in one area impacts a company’s ability to achieve their goals. A company is only as successful as the sum of its parts or as strong as its weakest link.

Each leadership style has a critical mission to accomplish. Do you know your primary leadership styles and how they impact your organization? I suggest all leaders answer these three questions for themselves:

On a scale of 1-10, what is your ability on each of the 10 leadership styles?

Does your current position allow you to drive on your leadership strengths?

If not, how can you use more of your leadership strengths in your current role?

About the Author: Sandra Dillon is a professional coach and consultant with an extensive background in business development and leadership. She coaches individuals as well as designs and facilitates workshops that address her clients’ specific business needs. Reach out to her at sandra.s.dillon@hotmail.com or 281.793.3741 to further the conversation and determine how she can help you grow your business.